Lawsuit Settlement Rings Teachers' Union's Bell; California
Teachers Association Must Repay $200 a Year to Resigning Members for Dues
Spent on Politics

The California Teachers Association (CTA), the state's largest teachers'
labor union, can no longer prevent members from resigning from the union
or requesting a refund of the portion of their mandatory dues spent for
political purposes under the settlement terms of a class-action lawsuit.

"California's teacher union officials have feared this moment for
decades: a time when teachers can free themselves from the union's grasp
without obstruction," said Stefan Gleason of the National Right to
Work Legal Defense Foundation, the organization that filed the lawsuit.

Teacher Judith Apple of San Diego tried to resign from the union because
she disagreed with its political activities, but was told she would have
to continue as a full member and pay full dues until her affiliate's bargaining
contract expired in July of 1998. With foundation assistance, Apple filed
suit in November of 1996, charging her compulsory union membership violated
the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

The settlement eliminates compulsory membership requirements from contracts,
accepts all current and past resignation requests and mandates the rebate
of all dues money not spent on collective bargaining, contract negotiation
and grievances to all members who request it. Refunds are expected to total
approximately $200 a year. The settlement affects all 250,000 CTA members.

"[T]eacher union officials diverted over 95% of teacher's compulsory
union dues spent on politics into subsidizing the partisan interests of
a single, narrow ideological group," said Gleason. "But now -
with this federal court settlement - California's educators can no longer
be forced along for the ride."

Washington Teachers' Union Caught Cheating; Salary of State Official Actually
Paid by National Union Bosses

Washington state's Public Disclosure Commission unanimously voted on
December 11th to fine Washington Education Association (WEA) Executive Director
James Seibert $6,000 for covering up the fact that the National Education
Association (NEA) actually pays his salary. The WEA is the state affiliate
of the NEA, and Seibert runs the labor union affiliate's political activities.

In 1992, Washington voters passed Initiative 134, requiring the teachers
union to obtain annual written approval from each member to use compulsory
dues for political purposes. As a result, members paying for the union's
political activities fell from 45,000 to 8,000.

The NEA paid Seibert's salary for at least eight years, and he was found
to have falsely reported his true employer on 106 public disclosure forms.
Because of a statute of limitations, however, he will only be fined for
the 60 violations occurring over the last five years. It is unclear whether
Seibert will pay the fine personally, or if it will come from union funds.

The Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF), which uncovered Seibert's misrepresentation,
also found other WEA/NEA violations that have been referred to Attorney
General Christine Gregoire. Among them is the creation of a new system for
assessing political dues from members and the WEA's laundering of over $400,000
in NEA money to influence the 1996 elections (where state ballot initiatives
for school choice and charter schools were defeated). Last August, information
obtained by EFF led to a fine similar to Seibert's being levied against
a WEA lobbyist.

The Washington state Attorney General filed suit against the union last
June for violating Initiative 134.

Campaign Finance Factoids

Political Choice Initiative Qualifies for California Ballot

California Secretary of State Bill Jones announced on December 23rd
that the "Campaign Reform Initiative" (CRI) had qualified for
the state's June 1998 ballot. The CRI would prohibit employer or labor
union-mandated payroll deductions for state or local political activity
unless prior approval is given on an annual basis by affected employees.
It also bans foreign contributions to state and local political campaigns.
A recent Field Poll found 72% of eligible California voters surveyed support
the CRI.

Bank Robber Says Campaign Laws Led Him to Life of Crime

Defeated last November and faced with losing his state lottery job,
outgoing Upper Darby, Pennsylvania Mayor Daniel Devlin robbed a local bank.
He walked out with $1,500, but was quickly arrested. Upon arraignment,
he tried to put his actions in perspective by citing national campaign
finance scandals. "Look at the Democrats," said the Republican
Devlin. "They steal millions, and Reno won't even appoint a special
prosecutor." Remarking on the incident, conservative commentator Paul
Weyrich jokingly endorsed Devlin's defense, saying, "I sort of like
this idea of politicians stealing directly. . . That is much more efficient
than the current system, where we are stolen from but never have the chance
to convict the criminals."

Political Money Monitor is published by The National
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Money Monitor does not imply endorsement by The National Center for Public
Policy Research. Copyright 1998 The National Center for Public Policy Research.
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